


A Usual Favor

by partypaprika



Category: xxxHoLic
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-21 08:41:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16573310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/partypaprika/pseuds/partypaprika
Summary: A rain god requests a favor from Yuuko and, consequently, Watanuki and Doumeki. It doesn't quite go according to plan.





	A Usual Favor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Panny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Panny/gifts).



They were walking back from the store, bags filled with Japanese pumpkin, kombu, bright napa cabbage, frangrant shungiku, orange carrots, and that wasn't even mentioning the mushrooms: shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms. There were more bags with several choice cuts of beef, pickled vegetables, miso paste, fresh silk tofu, speckled hen’s eggs and of course, sake, for a feast at Yuuko’s demand (“Oh ho ho, Watanuki, we want shabu shabu tonight, don’t we?” Yuuko had laughed, to a chorus of “Yes! Shabu shabu! Shabu shabu!” from Maru and Moro), when Watanuki flinched.

Immediately, Doumeki bunched up his bags, allowing his hands to be free, and paid attention to his right eye. After a second, Watanuki relaxed.

“It’s an _amefurikozo_ ,” Watanuki said and inclined his head towards the left where a little boy with tousled hair and a bright smile held an umbrella.

“Watanuki-san!” the boy said. “Yuuko-san said that I could find you here.”

Watanuki threw Doumeki a dark look that didn’t portend immediate yelling, but gave a strong indication that Watanuki expected there to be grounds for screaming in the near future.

“Did she?” Doumeki said.

“Yes!” the boy said. “I’m here on behalf of my master, Ushi. Also,” and here the boy paused and looked up at the sky, “you may want to take out your umbrellas now.”

“Ah!” Watanuki immediately said and started trying to dig through his various bags to find his umbrella. Doumeki took his umbrella out of his bag and opened it not a moment too soon as the heavens opened up and a deep, pouring rain came down.

He smoothly stepped into Watanuki’s space, sheltering him from the rain.

“I don’t need your help!” Watanuki said. “I have my own umbrella.”

Doumeki raised an eyebrow and a vein almost popped on Watanuki’s forehead. “You don’t think that I have an umbrella?” And there it was, Watanuki’s voice reaching to a fever pitch, predictable as the spring rains.

“Don’t be silly,” Doumeki said. “It’s at the bottom of your bag with the eggs. Do you really want to go digging around in there?”

“Maybe I do!” Watanuki said.

The little boy started giggling. “You are very funny. Yuuko-san said you two would be like this and she was right!”

Watanuki let out a low sound that might have been a growl, so Doumeki decided to divert.

“What else has Yuuko said?” Doumeki asked. Watanuki was still seething next to Doumeki, but he was dry and temporarily stymied, so Doumeki counted it as a win.

“Ushi is in need of fruit from the Jinmenju tree, however it is forbidden for rain deities to enter the garden. Yuuko has agreed to help us with this favor,” the boy said. “Will you come with me?

Doumeki resisted the desire to snort. Yuuko agreeing to do a favor from the safety of her shop and sending Watanuki out to face the real danger wasn’t even worth commenting on.

Doumeki looked over at Watanuki. Common sense said that Doumeki should say no. If a garden forbade entry to certain spirits and gods, it probably had a good reason. But it would have been useless for Doumeki to say no, no matter how bad of an idea it was. If Watanuki went, Doumeki would go. Watanuki hadn’t yet figured that out, but Doumeki was pretty firm on the point. Given Watanuki’s average levels of obliviousness, Doumeki gave it another five to ten years before Watanuki picked up on the pattern.

Pale-faced, Watanuki answered. “Fine. I’ll come.”

“ _We’ll_ come,” Doumeki said, stepping even closer to Watanuki.

The boy nodded and smiled, clearly not surprised. He stepped to the side and took his umbrella, holding it horizontally out of in front of him. He carefully opened it and where the underside of an umbrella would normally be, now it showed a green and sunny picture of rolling hills.

“After you,” the boy said and so Watanuki, lips pinched, walked towards the umbrella and stepped inside, Doumeki a half-step behind him.

One minute, they were on a wet and gray city sidewalk, rain pouring down around them. The next, all three of them were standing on lush grass. The boy folded up his umbrella and then gestured to his left where a wood fence and tall gate, painted a dull red, stood innocuously.

“My master needs one fruit from the Jinmenju tree,” the boy said, dimpling again.

Doumeki frowned. He’d heard the term Jinmenju before but couldn’t place it. From the look on Watanuki’s face, he couldn’t identify what it was either. Doumeki very much doubted that a Jinmenju tree was something good.

“How will we know which one the Jinmenju is?” Watanuki said, not a little snippily.

“It’s the tree in the very back,” the boy said. “You should know it when you see it.” And then there was a sudden sprinkle of rain, despite the lack of clouds. By the time that Doumeki looked back at the boy, he was gone. Watanuki scowled in the wake of the boy’s disappearance, his frustration in full force.

“Why is Yuuko always loaning me out like this?” Watanuki asked. “And she will, of course, be upset that her dinner is late. Who will get blamed? The same exact person who she made go out. Undoubtably, this tree will be man-eating or send a horde of ghosts after me.”

“Idiot,” Doumeki said. “Everyone knows there’s no such thing as carnivorous trees.” The look of irritation that Watanuki threw in Doumeki’s direction caused a flare of warmth in Doumeki’s chest. But then the look faded and Watanuki eyed the garden with some trepidation. Doumeki knew the feeling. There was nothing else to be done for it though, so he started walking. After a second, he said back behind him, “Are you planning on waiting there forever? Then dinner really will be late and I’m starving.”

“Hey! This dinner is not meant for you!” Watanuki said. “This is for my _employer_. That person I work for! Not the human vacuum cleaner who steals other people’s food that they’ve put time and energy into!” Watanuki kept up a stream of grievances but he started moving, catching up to Doumeki as if to make a point.

When they walked under the gate entrance, they saw a fire burning merrily in a small fire pit. Both Watanuki and Doumeki looked around, but they couldn’t see a trace of anyone—no footprints or evidence of any inhabitants. It made Doumeki even more wary, but after a minute, he nodded at Watanuki and they moved forward. As they passed the fire, a frisson of something went through Doumeki and out of his right eye, everything went smoky and blurred for a moment before it resolved itself back to normal.

“Do you see anything?” Doumeki asked.

Watanuki gave a shrug. “There are things here. But I think that they don’t want to be seen and they’re powerful enough to make that happen. I think that they mainly just want to be kept alone.”

Satisfied with that explanation, Doumeki looked around. A small stream went through the front of the garden, burbling happily and healthy. It was surrounded by maple trees and black grass, carefully highlighting the primrose, catmint and azaleas carefully scattered throughout the garden.

As they walked through the garden, they came across a few ponds filled with brightly colored koi swimming leisurely, contrasting with themselves. Begrudgingly, Doumeki admitted to himself this was a well-balanced and harmonious garden. Whomever had designed this garden had known what they were doing.

Suddenly, Watanuki stiffened up and Doumeki went on the alert, setting his bags on the ground. “Over there,” Watanuki said and his voice was wary. “The tree is over there.”

There didn’t appear to be any special trees in the direction Watanuki gestured, but Doumeki dutifully headed in that direction.

At first, Doumeki wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but then, after he walked between two large bushes, he saw what could have only been the tree in question.

It was a large tree, one of the biggest that Doumeki had ever seen. It looked like a cedar except for the fruit it bore. From its branches hung human heads— _large_ human heads, their eyes wide open and staring right at Doumeki and Watanuki. Each of them had their lips curved up in a parody of a smile.

Doumeki stopped immediately where he was. Abstractly, he wondered if the rain god master was actually prohibited from this garden or if he, too, found this tree alarmingly distasteful.

“So that’s a Jinmenju,” Watanuki said, his voice barely above a whisper next to Doumeki’s ear. It took a great deal of willpower to not shiver at the vibrations from Watanuki’s breath. “And we are supposed to get a fruit from it.” Watanuki didn’t have to say it, but the idea of harvesting one of those heads was horrifying. And yet.

After a long moment, Doumeki gritted his jaw and nodded. “Ok, let’s get one.”

“What!” Watanuki shrieked. If Doumeki hadn’t had several years of exposure to the high-pitched noises of Watanuki, that exclamation may have had some effect. However, he had, and so Doumeki just shrugged. “We’ve got a job to do. The sooner we do it. The sooner we eat dinner.”

“Dinner?” Watanuki yelled. “How can you think about dinner right now? We’re being asked to pick human heads!”

Doumeki shrugged. “They’re not real human heads.”

Watanuki struggled for words. “They’re not—but—they are—” and then he cut himself off. “You of all people should have more respect for the dead.”

“Can they be dead if they weren’t alive?” Doumeki asked. It seemed like a reasonable question, but Watanuki clearly did not think so, the way that his eyes narrowed. They stared at each other for a long minute—Watanuki glaring, Doumeki just appreciating the view. Sometimes he wondered what would happen if Watanuki realized that Doumeki enjoyed riling Watanuki up.

It would probably rile him up more, Doumeki thought and held in a smile. “Oi, you going to stand around all day or are you going to help me?” Doumeki said and turned back to the tree.

The branches of the tree were up high, no fruit close enough to reach from the ground, so Doumeki evaluated the trunk. There were a couple of good stepping spots which Doumeki pointed out to Watanuki.

“I’ll go up and get it,” Doumeki said, already planning out the path that he’d take. He wanted to get this done and get out of the garden as soon as humanely possible. He didn’t need Watanuki’s special abilities to tell him that there was something wrong with this place and that the longer they stared in it, the worse it could be.

After a moment of consideration, Watanuki shook his head. “I’m lighter than you and one of us will have to partially climb out onto the branch in order to pick it.”

Doumeki didn’t have a response to that, so he just grunted his assent and gestured for Watanuki to begin.

 

Watanuki went slowly at first, clearly trying not to look down, and Doumeki stationed himself next to the tree, trying not to think about Watanuki’s foot slipping from a foothold. It seemed to take an eternity, a small step up to a branch, Watanuki’s arm reaching up for the next branch, pulling himself up and resettling himself before starting all over again. Watanuki didn’t have to say anything—Doumeki could read the terror in the lines of tension across Watanuki’s back.

When Watanuki got to the nearest branch with heads, he took a deep breath. “Ok, I’m going to reach out, see if I can—pick it?—and then you’ll catch it. Right?”

Doumeki made another noise of agreement and then Watanuki, agonizingly slowly, pushed himself onto the branch. There was a precarious creaking noise and Doumeki tensed, mind playing out what would happen if Watanuki fell.

Thankfully, the branch held and Watanuki eased out slightly farther. He reached out his hand and then stopped short and snatched it back, like it had been burned.

There was nothing in Watanuki’s eyesight, but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t a threat. “Doumeki,” Watanuki said, voice strangled. “It’s laughing. They’re laughing.” Sure enough, there was a faint sound, like a man with a deep voice chuckling quietly.

“Do you want to come down?” Doumeki asked.

Watanuki shook his head. “No, I’ve got it,” he said. “Just, just give me a minute.”

After a second or two, Watanuki steeled himself and reached back down. He grabbed some of the hair, the lips curving up and laughing, this time loud enough for Doumeki to hear the sound, and yanked. The head continued to laugh as it fell and Doumeki caught it easily and immediately dumped out one of Watanuki’s bags of vegetables and placed the head in it, making sure to cover up the face.

“Ok, great,” Watanuki said, his voice still nervous. “Now I’ll just climb down and then we can give that creepy thing to the amefurikozo and then we can go home.”

Doumeki waited, but Watanuki didn’t move. Not even a single inch backwards. He licked his lips and eyed the ground. “I’ll just climb down,” Watanuki said and Doumeki could hear the waver in Watanuki’s voice. “Just climb right down.”

“Are you scared of coming down?” Doumeki asked. Immediately Watanuki glared at Doumeki and started moving towards to the trunk.

Doumeki watched, smug in the satisfaction of being right, as Watanuki worked himself into an increasingly irate state as he climbed down the tree. He’d yell at Doumeki when he got to the ground, but it was much better for him to be on the ground and angry at Doumeki, then shaking up on that branch, so Doumeki would take it as a win.

Watanuki was so angry, Doumeki fancied that he could see smoke escaping from his ears. It took a long moment for Doumeki to realize that there was light grey smoke that was rapidly becoming thicker around them.

“Watanuki,” Doumeki said quietly.

“I am coming!” Watanuki said, without even looking at Doumeki. “Some of us aren’t natural athletes, wasting all of our time training for silly competitions. Instead, our ridiculous boss sends us on ridiculous missions without warning us about hazards to human life, like a massive tree that we must climb! And then, our only companion turns out to be a jerk who mocks our lack of athletic ability!”

“Watanuki,” Doumeki said more urgently and something in his voice must have caught Watanuki’s attention because he looked down. The smoke solidified in Watanuki’s vision, quickly coalescing into a smoky brown face, with dark black recesses for eyes and a slash of dark brown where a mouth would be. Through Watanuki’s eye, Doumeki could see flickers of gold—pure power—emanating from the smoke.

With a deep roar, the smoke rushed down towards the ground towards Doumeki. With a thousand screaming voices, it yelled, “Give that back!” at Doumeki and the sheer force of it make Doumeki’s knees want to buckle.

Doumeki held the bag tighter. “No,” he said and despite the rapid beating of his heart and sweat running down his back, he held his ground.

The smoke turned into something darker, firmer and it leapt at Doumeki. Watanuki was down the tree faster than should have been possible, but it wasn’t fast enough as the thing grabbed Doumeki and _pulled_. There was one excruciatingly painful moment where everything in Doumeki’s body felt like it was being brutally torn apart and Doumeki screamed, throwing the bag with the head towards Watanuki.

Everything burst apart, or burst together, and everything hurt so much that it came as a relief to allow the inky darkness of unconsciousness to overtake him.

 

 

 

When Doumeki came to, he was in a cavern, a huge bonfire built up in the center, lighting up the stalactites hanging down from the ceiling. Doumeki tried to move, but as soon as he flexed, every single muscle in his body screamed in pain. With some effort, he pushed himself into a sitting position and then immediately regretted it as the pain behind his temples caused a wave of nausea to swing through him. Doumeki focused on his breathing, counting each second until he was certain that he wouldn’t get sick everywhere.

Just when Doumeki felt like he had the pain temporarily at bay, there was a loud crackling from the bonfire and the smoke spirit formed together above it. It was just as menacing as Doumeki remembered—despite its non-corporeal body, the spirit was sinister and it made Doumeki’s skin crawl.  

Staring at the thing above him, Doumeki knew that any chance of escape or rescue were slim. He had no clue where the cave could be located—he was almost certainly on some spiritual plane. And even more certain, the spirit that had brought him here was not inclined to bring him back.

“You took mine,” the figure said and its smoky fingers reached for Doumeki leaving white licking tendrils of pain across Doumeki’s arms.

“I’m sorry,” Doumeki said. “We didn’t know that it was yours.”

“It’s mine, you trespasser!” the spirit yelled, the sound of a thousand discordant voices again and another wave of nausea overcame Doumeki.

The thing rushed Doumeki and although he tried to move out of the way, his body was paralyzed, in agony, and the spirit laughed at Doumeki’s struggles.

“Do you know how I grew my Jinmenju tree?” the spirit asked.

Doumeki had a horrible feeling that he did.

 

 

The spirit took his time with Doumeki—there was no rush, seeing how Doumeki couldn’t get his pinky to move and it seemed to want to cause the most agony before it presumably dismembered him. It didn’t have to exert much effort to do so—each press of the whisper-light smoke felt like coals pressed up against him.

The spirit didn’t talk and the pain seemed to go on forever, so Doumeki couldn’t be sure how fast time was passing, if he had been in the cave for a few hours or a few years. The only thing that he could think was that at the very least, it was him here with this monster and not Watanuki.

Sometimes, Doumeki would pass out and each time, the spirit seemed content to wait, not wanting to continue while Doumeki wasn’t able to appreciate the fruits of his labor.

 

 

Doumeki wasn’t sure how much time had passed, when he started hearing sounds coming from one of the left branches of the cave. They got louder and louder, although the spirit seemed oblivious to the noise until suddenly Watanuki burst into the cavern at a full run. He had a large bag thrown over his shoulder and he set it down carefully.

Watanuki’s eyes were practically glowing, he was so angry, and Doumeki had never seen anyone as beautiful.

“Give him back,” Watanuki said, his face resolved.

“The other trespasser!” the spirit yelled and Doumeki couldn’t help but scream again. Watanuki made an abortive gesture towards Doumeki before holding himself tight.

“Watanuki, get out,” Doumeki said, or tried to say.

“Shut up!” Watanuki said. “Stop moving!” And Doumeki would have, but if Watanuki didn’t get out of there soon, he too would be in the same exact place that Doumeki was in now and Doumeki would rather be in agony until he turned into one of those creepy head-fruits than have the same be done to Watanuki.

“I stole it!” Doumeki yelled to the spirit. The spirit snarled at Doumeki, even as it grabbed Doumeki and started dragging him with him, towards Watanuki.

“Trust me!” Watanuki said and Doumeki wanted to say that he always trusted Watanuki except to protect himself, when it really mattered. But everything hurt too much and he couldn’t find the air to speak.

“Leave him alone!” Watanuki yelled and now Doumeki could see energy coming from him, bright, radiant, lighting up the cave and streaking through the smoke spirit.

The spirit spread out, the smoke thickening in the cave, everything turning black except for the bright red flame of the bonfire of the middle of the cave. Watanuki watched the spirit, his shoulders shaking and then he drew a deep breath and took a large temple jar out of his bag. He ran at the spirit, but nothing happened when he met it—no smoke disappearance.

If anything, the spirit became stronger, its voice louder and the smoke became so thick that Doumeki could barely make anything out clearly.

With a loud screech of pain from the spirit’s touch, Watanuki kept running, only stopping when he got to the bonfire in the middle.

The spirit hissed and tried to reach for Watanuki, but it was too late, Watanuki dipped the jar into the fire. As if it were magnetized, the fire rushed into the jar, leaving the wood behind. Once the fire itself was finished, the smoke spirit followed, dragged by its tail into the jar despite its desperate clawing through the air.

Once the smoke was completely inside, Watanuki quickly put the jar’s top on and then carefully set the jar upright on the ground.

 Immediately, he was then by Doumeki’s side, carefully feeling Doumeki’s pulse and running his hands over Doumeki’s face. His hands felt so good and cool against Doumeki’s cheeks and Watanuki looked down at Doumeki like he was more precious than almost anything.

Immediately, Watanuki shattered the peace. “What were you thinking!” Watanuki then yelled. “Don’t you go where I can’t follow you!”

“Better you than me,” Doumeki said, his voice raspy.

“Why would you say that!” Watanuki said. “Don’t you think about anyone other than—”

“Other than you?” Doumeki interrupted. “Not as much.”

“What—what are you saying?” Watanuki said, but his voice had gone quiet and Doumeki allowed himself to draw courage from that.

“I—” Doumeki started.

“You’re injured,” Watanuki said and his face was pale. Doumeki wanted to reach up and reassure him, but everything hurt so much. Watanuki lifted up his hand and it was covered in blood. Probably Doumeki’s.

After a moment of deliberation, Watanuki took off his shirt and began to rip it into a long strip of cloth that could be used as a bandage. Under other circumstances, Doumeki would have appreciated the rare glimpse of Watanuki partially unclothed, but he was having trouble focusing on too much of anything.

As Watanuki worked, he talked—although Doumeki wasn’t sure if it was to himself or to Watanuki. “What were you thinking? What if you had been killed? What would I do if I lost you?” he said. “You’re such an idiot. The worst idiot.”

“Watanuki,” Doumeki said faintly.

“Shut up,” Watanuki said fiercely, and a tear escaped, running down his cheek and Doumeki wanted to make it better but couldn’t. “I—you!” Watanuki said and then he abruptly leaned forward and kissed Doumeki.

It was just a brief press of Watanuki’s lips against Doumeki’s, but it was better than Doumeki could have dreamed, a spark of light in Doumeki’s chest, liquid courage in his heart.

“This will hurt,” Watanuki said when he pulled away. “But don’t you dare die on me. You have to make it until we get back to Yuuko’s.”

“I’ll do my best,” Doumeki said and then Watanuki helped him up.

 

Doumeki didn’t remember much of the trip back to Yuuko’s. He spent most of it draped on Watanuki, the two of them moving very slowly. He though that at one point he saw the little amefurikozo next to them and they seemed to make more progress after that. Eventually, they made it to Yuuko’s and then he was placed on a blessedly soft lounging sofa.

Hushed whispers went on around him, but Doumeki figured that he had done his duty—he had made it to Yuuko’s, so he let himself drift off.

 

When Doumeki woke up, Watanuki was sitting on the ground, slumped against the sofa, his face mashed into the fabric. He wanted to reach out and touch Watanuki, reassure himself that Watanuki was there, beside him. That Watanuki had meant those things he’d said in the darkness of the cave. That he’d meant the kiss.

When Doumeki tried to sit up, something pulled tight and painful in his side and he let out a hiss of breath. Instantly, Watanuki’s head shot up and he looked around wildly. Only when he realized that the Doumeki was the sound of the noise, did his shoulders drop.

“Doumeki,” Watanuki said and his voice was tightly controlled and distant.

“Watanuki,” Doumeki said. He groped around for something to say. “What happened with the amefurizoko?”

Watanuki gave him a look of disbelief. “You almost die, and you care about the amefurizoko? Well, how do you think I found you?” Watanuki’s lips were turned down and his whole posture unhappy. “I made Yuuko call the favor that she’d given back in. Ushi was able to send me to where you were and the amefurikozo helped us back.”

Doumeki frowned as well. Did Watanuki now regret his actions? Doumeki would make sure that he repaid the debt that he had incurred. “You saved my life.”

“I, um,” Watanuki said, blushing and looked away. “I couldn’t just let you die. It was my fault you were there in the first place.”

Doumeki watched Watanuki’s face turn pink. He didn’t say anything as Watanuki became more and more fidgety. “But that’s not the reason why,” Watanuki said finally, mumbling.

Doumeki made a noise for Watanuki to continue. “Why are you so difficult?” Watanuki asked but it had none of his usual heat. “I would have missed you, ok? Sometimes, I think that you’re alright.”

“Alright?” Doumeki said.

“More than alright!” Watanuki said and there was the heat again. Doumeki couldn’t help but smile at that.

“Thank you,” Doumeki said.

“Thank you?” Watanuki said. “Thank you? I just poured my heart out to you and all you do is thank you.”

Doumeki reached out and gently took Watanuki’s hand. Instantly, Watanuki went quiet. “I would like you to kiss me again,” Doumeki said.

“I—yes—ok,” Watanuki said and he jerkily moved his head in.

His lips were warm and firm against Doumeki’s and he kissed desperately, like he couldn’t stand the thought of separating from Doumeki. Heat bloomed in Doumeki’s chest and he kissed back until they both had to separate to breathe.

“Kimihiro,” Doumeki said. Watanuki’s already red face went a shade further and Doumeki could tell that he was pleased by it.

“Shizuka,” Watanuki said quietly, but firmly, and didn’t turn his gaze away.

Well—he didn’t turn it away until they both heard Yuuko’s giggling outside the room as Maru and Moro began chanting “Doumeki and Watanuki are kissing! Doumeki and Watanuki are kissing!”

It was still worth every second.


End file.
